Contribution of Odoba Forest Reserve to Livelihoods of the Rural People in Ogbadibo Local Government Area, Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted to assess the contribution of Odoba forest reserve to rural livelihoods of the communities in Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires were administered to three hundred and seventy-six respondents in 188 households in four communities. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Fifteen different wood and non-wood products were collected by the respondents from the forest reserve with fuel wood products being the product mostly collected from the reserve (65.5%) followed by water supply from the streams in the forest reserve (59%). Others were edible vegetable (56.6%), folder (53.6%), mush room (53.3%), medicinal herbs (52.6%) and timber (50.3%), Bush Meat (46.7%), Chewing stick (43.0%), Pole (40.5%), Honey (37.8%), Snail (27%), Caterpillar (25%), Cricket (20.4%) and Climbers (19%). The result also shows that forest resources contributed very high to the livelihood of the people in the areas of food for household consumption, additional income, medicinal values, water supply and trading of forest products. Furthermore, the study results showed that the most need met by the people from the sale of forest products is feeding of households (19.4%) and investing in farming activities (13.8%). The communities differ significantly (P=0.05) in the contribution of the forest reserve to their livelihoods. The study recommends that State Government, local authorities and aid agencies should provide alternative sources of fuel energy by establishing village owned solar power plants and fuelwood efficient stoves. This will reduce dependence on the forest reserve for energy and also curtail deforestation of the reserve. Modified Taungya system in the reserve to engage households in forest regeneration efforts as well as the sharing of benefits from such efforts should be included in policies of the Government.

Socio-economic Factors Influencing Utilization of Forest Resources at Odoba Forest Reserve, Benue State, Nigeria

“…The study found age having significant positive influence on utilization of forest resources from Odoba forest reserve. The mean age of the people was 42 years [22]. This finding agrees with [18] [18] and [28] also confirms this finding.…”

“…Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the socio-economic characteristics of the people as reported in [22]. Probit regression model as used by [18] was as adopted to determine the socioeconomic factors that influenced utilization of forest resources from Odoba forest reserve.…”

“…This implies that an increase in the household size increases frequent forest product collection from the reserve. [22] documented significant contribution of forest resources to the livelihood of the adjoining villages to Odoba forest reserve. Given that most household members in the study area are farmers, the larger the household size, the higher the chances that the members will be involved in various livelihood strategies than depend on An increase in the income of the households significantly decreases utilization of forest resources in the reserve.…”

“…In Nigeria, Jimoh et al [21] studied the prevalence, utilization and conservation strategies for Non-Timber Forest Products in South Western Zone of Nigeria. Also, Ancha et al [22] assessed the contribution of Odoba forest reserve to the livelihoods of the surrounding communities. However, the socio economic factors influencing utilization of the forest resources by the people have not been investigated.…”